Felix pitches, Cordero reassigned, Bedard and Hannahan on DL

This bit of news before the most important part of the day (lunch):

Felix Hernandez threw the equivalent of six innings in a minor league intrasquad game this morning. We say “equivalent” because sometimes if he’d get three quick outs, he’d pitch to a fourth batter in an inning.

Hernandez struck out six, allowed three hits (one a leadoff home run by Ezequiel Carrera, the others a double by Ryan Langerhans and a single by Matt Mangini) and two walks, and pronounced himself ready for opening day Monday at Oakland. Asked when he’d start thinking about that, he said, “7:05 Monday.”

Yeah, right.

Hard to tell who’s looking forward to the opener more, Hernandez or catcher Rob Johnson. He not only caught Hernandez this morning, he stole a base.

“You may not believe this, but I could run,” Johnson said. “I ran 11-flat in high school and if you look up my minor league numbers, I stole some bases.”

Yes he did, six steals in 2004 with the Everett AquaSox, 10 in 2005 at Wisconsin and 14 in 2006 at Tacoma. After that, catching took its toll.

A couple other items:

In addition to left-handed pitcher Luke French (optined this morning to Class AAA Tacoma), the Mariners have reassigned right-handed reliever Chad Cordero to the minor league camp.

Cordero is closing on two years since labrum shoulder surgery and has made tremendous strides since last August when Class A hitter were smacking him around when he pitched for the Everett AquaSox. What he needs now, manager Don Wakamatsu said, is to pitch consistently from one outing to the next. So far, it’s been a real success story from an injury that doesn’t always turn out that way.

Speaking of labrums, Erik Bedard played long toss this morning and later was placed on the 15-day disabled list. His DL time is retroactive to March 26. Bedard played long toss this morning, felt good and continues to remain ahead of schedule in his recovery, manager Don Wakamatsu said.

The Mariners also placed utility infielder Jack Hannahan on the 15-day disabled list because of his strained right groin. He’s returning from Philadelphia, where a specialist examined him Monday and determined that he doesn’t need surgery.